Advice
by WolfGangSBD
Summary: Nozomi gives Nico simple advice on how to get Maki's attention. Add Kotori to the mix and you get a perfectly executed plan… Right? (sequel to "Temptations", but can be read as a standalone)


"Are you serious?"

"Of course I am, Nicocchi. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because whatever you said sounded like it came straight out of a shitty love novel."

That's because it did come from a shitty love novel, Nozomi thought, but Nico didn't need to know that. She just folded her hands together in response and smiled mysteriously. Beside her, Eli rolled her eyes and shuffled some papers around. She figured from past attempts that she couldn't stop Nozomi from her scheming, so she continued to do her work.

"So you basically want me to avoid Maki and play hard-to-get?" Nico asked in a deadpan voice and Nozomi nodded.

"Trust me, playing hard-to-get works really well with oblivious idiots." Nozomi responded wisely, shooting Nico a knowing smile. Eli rolled her eyes once again but still continued to listen; if she knew what Nozomi's plans were, then she could possibly lessen the collateral damage.

"Whatever." Nico said disappointingly before muttering, "Can't believe I sucked up my pride for this."

"If you want, we can come up with a much more detailed plan." Nozomi brought up with a grin just as Nico was about to get up and leave. Of course, that had Nico's undivided attention and she stopped moving as soon as those words left Nozomi's mouth. Eli just shook her head and sighed, wondering if her friends could all be undramatic for one day.

"But," Nozomi continued as her grin turned into one of those irritating ones Nico hated so much, "you have to tell me some more details. You know, just so we can avoid complications."

Nico glared at Nozomi, who just smiled back at her with that annoyingly infuriating smile of hers. She glanced at Eli, who shot her a sympathetic look before going back to work. Nico had confided to Eli about Maki before because Eli had brought it up and Nico trusted her enough, but the blonde's advice was for Nico to be straightforward with her feelings for Maki. Nico would have followed her advice, but she valued Maki too much as a friend—if she confessed, then everything Nico worked for would be ruined.

Whatever, Nico thought with a sigh. She would be graduating this year and if Maki did show interest after this "plan", then she would definitely make a move. If not, then it is what it is. They would at least be friends, and it was better than nothing.

"Do we have to do this here?" Nico asked as she looked around suspiciously, as if someone was going to pop up with a camera.

"No one really comes here unless they have questions about clubs or events." Nozomi replied as she took out her tarot cards and shuffled it. She then picked the card on top and smiled before setting it face down on the table. "Besides, most people have probably gone home already."

"Fine. Where do you want me to start?" Nico relented, ignoring Nozomi's usual spiritual antics as she slouched on the table.

"Up to you. If the two of you have some sort of routine together and you deviate from it, then you should be able to get her attention." Nozomi replied simply and Nico hummed in thought, wondering if she should tell Nozomi everything. Nozomi did have good intentions and was a good (amazing actually, but Nico would loathe to admit) friend, but it didn't make Nico feel any better about getting help. It _was_ coming from the titty monster after all.

"Sometimes we eat lunch in the music room. And sometimes we go to the music room after practice to practice some more." Nico admitted, deciding not to tell Nozomi that by sometimes she actually meant often. Nozomi clapped her hands at the thought of an idea and grinned widely.

"Well then, starting next week, you stop eating lunch with her and eat lunch with us? And don't have extra practice sessions. When she asks, be, like, ambiguous but chill about it." Nozomi suggested as she tried to word out what she was thinking and Nico blinked. She wondered if it would have any effect at all before shrugging. She figured eating lunch with Nozomi and Eli shouldn't be too hard, and it would be a nice change of pace to hang out with her fellow seniors.

As for the practice sessions, Nico felt somewhat bummed. She loved it whenever she and Maki were in the music room together. Sometimes they would practice songs, sometimes Nico would (surprisingly) help Maki compose, but most of the time, Nico just annoyed her. However, there were those rare moments where one would open up to the other, and Nico felt like she had a chance with the redhead. But then the moment would be ruined, either because of some passerby or because one of them would get too flustered. Regardless, she treasured the time she spent with Maki, knowing that she wouldn't be able to see her much when she graduated.

"Sure. But I don't know if it'll have any effect." Nico commented dryly and Nozomi laughed. Curiously, Nico looked at her and Nozomi just responded with a grin as she lifted the tarot card that was face down on the table, revealing the Lovers card.

"A sign from the fates! Looks like they support your relationship~" Nozomi teased and Nico snorted.

"Oh, _wow_. Thanks for making me feel like I'm in a shitty romance movie." Nico replied sarcastically but smiled nonetheless. Stupid Nozomi with her stupid timing. It was as if she knew that she was feeling a bit down. "Will we start next week?"

"Yep!"

* * *

 _Day One_

Since Nico was the one who usually texted first about lunch, she decided to get things over with and texted Maki first thing in the morning.

" _hey dummy :P i'll be getting lunch with nozotits and bakachika today"_

As expected, Maki's reply wasn't instantaneous, but when she did reply, it was brief and straight to the point like usual.

" _Whatever, you gremlin."_

Nico rolled her eyes at her reply before pocketing her phone, her doubts of Nozomi's plan increasing. However, during practice, Nico did notice that Maki seemed to eye her a bit and when she did make eye contact, the redhead blushed lightly before finishing up her stretches.

Nico blinked at that before resuming her own stretches, wondering quietly if the plan would work after all. She guessed she would just have to wait it out.

* * *

 _Day Two_

Nothing happened much this time around as well, except for one incident.

During lunch, Maki was able to catch Nico with Nozomi and Eli as they walked to the student council. She strode towards them confidently but as soon as she saw the two student council members, she kind of faltered. Despite this, she went up to Nico, cleared her throat, and opened her mouth, but it seemed like she forgot what she was trying to say. So, after a moment of silence, Nico rolled her eyes and decided to save her crush from choking on a fly.

"You need something?" Nico asked disinterestedly, inwardly giggling at how Maki blushed lightly. Next to her, Nozomi was amused while Eli shot Maki a reassuring smile.

"I-I just wanted to say, that, um," Maki started, but her blush darkened as the seconds passed by, so she spat out angrily, "you were really off during practice yesterday!"

She stomped away after that, leaving Nico terribly confused while Nozomi couldn't help but giggle. Eli herself let out an amused smile before ushering the two into the student council room.

The trio went inside and went to their usual spots, but Nico didn't open her lunch because she was still a bit astonished. That is, until Nozomi decided to interrupt.

"Still don't think my plan will work?"

"Shut up, tits."

Nico guessed that Nozomi really was a mastermind when it came to these things, but she would never admit it out loud. A couple more days, Nico thought as she finally opened her bento, and something might actually happen.

* * *

 _Day Three_

Maki was the one to text first about lunch this time around, much to Nico's surprise. Nico texted back that she was busy, keeping it ambiguous this time per Nozomi's orders. Maki just sent her a brief "Okay" after that and that was the end of it. Nico guessed she shouldn't have expected much, but during practice Maki seemed to pick on her, calling Nico out for the slightest mistakes.

Of course Nico would never back down to a challenge, but Eli always stepped in before things got too heated. Nico silently thanked her for that, but she still wondered if this plan would ever work. They still had their silly spats like usual, although it did seem a bit more heated from Maki's side. It was just that Nico felt that not eating lunch with the redhead didn't leave that strong of an effect on Maki—it was like if Honoka ate lunch with Hideko or Fumiko instead of with Kotori and Umi.

But then again, by now she would have bothered Maki in the piano room. So after practice, when everyone was getting ready to go home, Nico actually caught Maki looking a bit disappointed. Either if it was because of mistakes made in practice or if something else happened, Nico didn't know. Still, despite the plan, Nico was a friend first. So, she went up to her and lightly nudged her shoulder.

"I'm sorry for yelling earlier." Nico apologized first, hoping that it would be unexpected enough to cheer her up. Maki's eyes opened widely and then she started twirling her hair, a clear indicator of her embarrassment.

"H-Hmph." Maki grunted as she turned her shoulder and stuck her nose in the air. Nico rolled her eyes, knowing that she didn't really mean it, and grinned widely. There were always other, more fun ways to cheer this stupid tomato up.

"Way to let Nico-Nii down! And here Nico-Nii had the guts to apologize first." Nico sang in that high-pitched voice of hers and Maki immediately stopped twirling her hair, choosing instead to roll her eyes at Nico.

"Ew." Maki simply replied, but Nico didn't back down.

"Wow, is that how an idol is supposed to react?" Nico teased and Maki blushed, making Nico laugh.

"Shut up." Maki said, the red still tinted on her cheeks, and Nico stuck her tongue out. She then relented, "I guess I could say I'm sorry too."

"That's what I thought." Nico said with a triumphant grin and Maki rolled her eyes again, "I've got to go now though, the kids at home need me after all."

"Right. Your siblings." Maki said, as if she just realized something.

"Yeah, who else would I be talking about?" Nico joked, and Maki let out a small laugh at that.

And as they shared their goodbyes, Nico thought she saw Maki stare wistfully at the window.

* * *

 _Day Four_

The day started out like usual, except Nico decided not to text Maki about lunch in the morning. This day for Muse was a work day, where everyone was given the chance to focus on lyrics, compositions, and designs. So, Nico opted to join Kotori to help her sew. Usually she would bother Maki with composition during these days, but due to the plan she decided not to this time around.

Of course, Kotori was able to recognize that something was up, so she confronted Nico. Nico should've seen it coming, really. Kotori seemed to be watching her and Maki often as of late _and_ she was talking to Nozomi a lot. Anyone who talked to Nozomi that much had to be up to something.

"So, Maki-chan seems a bit antsy lately." Kotori started as she worked on some fabric.

Nico faltered with her own work before she brought her chin up and replied, "Seems like."

"Do you know why?" Kotori asked innocently and Nico shrugged, so she continued, "Well, I think I know why."

"Really?" Nico asked, hiding her nervousness really well. It was already enough to have Eli and Nozomi know about it. Nico didn't want people to know about her crush on Maki. It was a fact that falling for someone in the same group of friends would make things ridiculously awkward if it wasn't reciprocated or if someone else in the group liked that person too.

"It's because you're not really hanging out with Maki-chan, right?" Kotori said with a knowing smile and Nico stopped. She groaned and hid her face behind her hands.

"Nozomi told you, didn't she? I swear, the reason why her tits are so big is because she can't keep a secret." Nico grumbled accusingly, but she didn't really mean it; Nozomi was actually good with secrets. It was just that she liked to scheme a bit and if one looked close enough, they could figure out what she was up to. Either way, it made things a lot better or worse. Nico prayed it was for the former in this case.

"Hm, not really. I always thought you and Maki-chan had something special." Kotori admitted dreamily with a sigh as she got lost with thought, "The two of you look really good together. I'd love to make you two matching outfits sometime."

Nico blinked at her, a bit confused but still appreciative of her support. She cleared her throat and continued to work, shooting a distracted Kotori a glance before saying, "So, uh, do you think it'll work?"

Kotori snapped out of it and hummed in thought, continuing her work as she did so. After a moment, she stopped and gasped, her eyes brightening up as she came up with an idea.

"Well, what you're doing will take a while, but I thought of something that might speed up the process." Kotori started excitedly and Nico couldn't help but become curious, stopping her work in the process.

"What is it?" Nico asked and Kotori clasped her hands together.

"If my resources are correct, then Maki-chan should react more if you spend time with people she doesn't know. So, I think that if she sees you hang out with other people that she isn't familiar with, she might get jealous." Kotori explained her suggestion and giggled lightly the more she thought about it, "I'm sure Maki-chan would get jealous more."

At Kotori's comment, Nico made a confused face, wondering why everyone thought Maki would get jealous once she started hanging out with someone that wasn't her.

"Why does everyone think she'll react to that? Am I missing something here?" Nico voiced her thoughts aloud, realizing that Kotori's plan was the same as Nozomi's but just extended to other people. "Is Maki, like, _that_ attached to me or something?"

"Maybe." Kotori answered mysteriously, giggling when Nico glared at her.

"Ugh, you're hanging out with tits too much. Hopefully Umi doesn't get an aneurysm once you start making dirty jokes or something." Nico grumbled and was once again confused when Kotori made a face of realization.

"That's it!" Kotori exclaimed.

"Uh, what's it?" Nico dared to ask, and Kotori smiled widely.

"Remember when Soldier Game was released?" Kotori asked and Nico bit back a groan.

How could she forget that? Muses's popularity skyrocketed after that single came out and Nico could never forget the amount of crazy comments people posted. She shuddered at the thought of it, remembering how someone wanted to get a tattoo of Umi's face on their face with hearts all over. It was probably meant to come off as a joke due to its ridiculousness, but with the internet, Nico never really knew.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, now that you think about it, don't Umi-chan, Maki-chan, and Eli-chan kind of act similarly?" Kotori pointed out and Nico took a couple of seconds to take the information in before gasping in realization.

"Oh my god you're right."

"Right? They're all really overprotective and stern when they want to be."

"And don't forget that they have that no nonsense attitude. Well, to a certain extent." Nico added thoughtfully but paused, "Wait, what's so important about this?"

"That means Eli-chan would probably react the same if something similar were to happen to Nozomi-chan." Kotori said with a hopeful smile and Nico blinked before laughing out loud.

"Kotori, those two are probably married already. Trust me when I say that they don't need any help." Nico said as she tried to stop her laughter. She actually hadn't seen them do anything other than walk together really closely when it was cold or share an umbrella when it was raining, but she saw the glances they sent each other when they thought no one was looking. She might not have seen them do anything together, but those heated looks were enough for her to piece things together.

"Really?" Kotori asked, a bit deflated, so Nico smiled sheepishly.

"Um, maybe? You could always ask Nozomi or do something to test the waters if you don't want to ask directly." Nico suggested since Kotori looked so sad and smiled when Kotori brightened up a little.

"You're right! Thanks Nico-chan. You really are the best." Kotori chirped and Nico grinned smugly.

"Of course! I'm Nico-Nii, the best idol in the universe! Let's get back to work now, these clothes won't make themselves."

And so the two began working again, talking about current fashion trends and new ideas for future designs. But as Nico worked, all she could think about was how others seemed to think that Maki liked her back. She felt giddy just thinking about it, but knew not to get her hopes up too much. Still, it didn't stop her from skipping all the way back home. And when her siblings called her out on it, Nico just laughed, ruffled their hair, and told them that, maybe, one of her dreams was going to come true.

And when she fell asleep that night, she dreamt of rainbows and unicorns as she held hands with Maki.

* * *

It was a brand new week, so that meant a brand new start for Nico. She had done what Kotori suggested she do and spent time with various students of her year for an entire week. She was actually glad Kotori had recommended she do that, seeing as she made many new friends despite being in different classes. It was nice to walk down the hall and have people greet you as you go. Nico supposed it would be training for when she hit it big later.

Maki's reaction was to give Nico the cold shoulder whenever she saw her, but the weird thing was that she also texted Nico a lot more. Nozomi claimed it was just the redhead being a tsundere and all, but with all the mixed signals she was giving her, Nico didn't know. Maybe she did feel jealous. Or maybe she was giving Nico some space since it seemed like Nico wanted to hang out with others for a change.

Nico groaned with frustration, rubbing her temples as she thought about the situation between her and Maki. She felt like she was overthinking things, but she never knew with Maki. She remembered one time, when they had gotten lunch after school, Maki had reached over to take a piece of rice off of Nico's face and proceeded to eat it unfazed. Yet when Nico offered to share her drink with her, Maki got really embarrassed.

It also didn't help that Eli was acting weird. It probably had to deal with Nozomi brushing the blonde off every now and then beginning last week, but Nico felt like nothing drastic enough was happening for her to jump in just yet. Eli probably did something stupid again, like the time she almost promised giving one of her buttons to an underclassman.

All the thinking made Nico tired, so she ended up knocking out during class. Of course, the teacher noticed and the class laughed when she did her Nico-Ni routine, so when it was finally lunchtime, a couple of girls went to check if Nico was okay.

"Nico-chan, are you alright?" Some girl asked and Nico nodded, giving her a bright smile.

"Nico-Nii is doing great! Just a bit tired from practice." Nico responded smoothly, making Nozomi giggle.

"Our little Nicocchi is such a hard worker after all." Nozomi said with a wink, and Nico thought she saw a girl swoon. Huh, when did Nozomi start to have that effect. "Anyways, I've got to go—I need to talk to Kotori-chan about some of the designs she sent me."

"Bye Nozomi-chan! Your fortune telling was amazingly accurate, by the way!"

"Of course it is! I know my spiritual prowess after all~" Nozomi replied with a giggle, sending the girl a wink as well. She playfully rolled her eyes at that, as if it were a common occurrence.

After waving goodbye to the class, Nozomi left, leaving a confused Nico. She seemed to be more sociable to the others in their class as well, talking to them about fortune telling and giving them advice. But then suddenly, she remembered Kotori's words and hummed with realization.

It's when Eli arrives and looks slightly disappointed that Nico decides to help a homie out. After all, she knew the blonde would do the same for her.

"Hey, Nico. Is, uh, Nozomi here?" Eli asked, trying to seem confident as she straightened her jacket and brushed a stray hair out of the way. Nico actually saw someone in her class swoon and inwardly snorted.

"Nah, she said she had to talk to Kotori about something. We're about to eat lunch right now. Want to join?" Nico responded as she gestured to some of the girls who surrounded her. They were, thankfully, resistant to Eli's charms.

Eli cleared her throat and nodded her head. "Sure. I was kind of hoping I would catch her—she seems to be busy as of late."

"Tell me about it." Nico mumbled as she felt her phone vibrate. At checking the contact, she rolled her eyes.

It was Maki again, and judging from the message preview, she was sending Nico another one of her nonchalant one word replies, acting as if she wasn't too interested in their conversation. Nico knew better. After all, Maki was texting her during class, and that was surprising.

"Maki again?" Eli whispered so the other girls couldn't hear and Nico nodded. "You really should just be upfront about everything."

"Yeah, yeah." Nico waved her off before changing the topic to something they can talk about with the others, "So, did you all see our latest PV?"

The other girls nodded brightly and Nico smiled. They all began to talk about it, giving the idols some feedback as well as criticisms.

And so Nico spent her lunch talking with her fellow classmates, completely unaware of what was going to happen later during practice. If she did, well, she probably would've taken Eli's advice. But she didn't.

Well, she's the great Nico-Nii—she can handle anything.

* * *

Practice was weird.

Although it wasn't obvious to the others, Eli was definitely pouting over Nozomi giving the other girls attention. With a sigh, Nico risked a glance at Maki, surprised that she caught the redhead looking right back at her. She raised her eyebrow, but Maki just turned her head and scoffed before dragging Eli away to talk about "preparations for their next live".

Nico groaned loudly, catching Nozomi's attention. With a sly smile, she walked over to Nico, giggling when the usually bright girl was mumbling things to herself.

"You okay Nicocchi?" Nozomi asked and Nico glared at her. "Don't worry about our favorite tomato—she really is just being a tsundere like usual."

Nico rolled her eyes at that. "Yeah, well, I don't think this plan is working out at all." Nozomi let out an amused hum, so Nico continued, "I mean, look at her! Sure, for some reason, we're texting a lot, but she doesn't even talk to me in person anymore."

"Well, Nicocchi, you just have to have a little faith." Nozomi reassured as she took a card out of her...boobs? What the hell? Did she have that in there the entire time?

Nico gave Nozomi a disgusted look and she laughed in reply, showing her the card in the process. At seeing the Lovers card, she gave Nozomi a deadpan look.

"I'm not sure about this anymore, tits."

"Like I said, Nicocchi," Nozomi repeated with a soft smile, "have a little faith."

"Alright!" Umi said as she clapped her hands, "I think that's good enough for dance practice. Kotori tells me that she needs help for making some of the designs."

"That's right!" Kotori chirped with a bright smile, giving Umi a loving look. Umi just blushed lightly and smiled back, and Nico thought she would puke at how cute they were being. "I need someone to buy some fabric while I finish up with what I have left, if that's alright."

"We can go, nya!" Rin exclaimed as she took Hanayo's hand and bounded over to the ashen-haired girl, "Please? Please?"

At Rin's puppy eyes, Kotori giggled. She rubbed the bottom of her chin and Rin purred, making Kotori giggle even more. "Sure, Rin-chan."

"I'll come along." Umi added, making Rin pout at her hard stare. "Just to make sure you don't fool around."

"Eh, I won't, nya! Plus, Kayo-chin will be there too!" Rin replied with a pout as she broke away from Kotori to nuzzle her face against Hanayo's. Hanayo just blushed, making Nico grin. Those two were just so cute.

"Then, Eli-chan, Nozomi-chan, and Honoka-chan, can you help me with some of these designs?" Kotori asked, but Nozomi shot her an apologetic smile.

"I actually have to help out at the shrine today." Nozomi replied and Kotori shook her head, giving her a grateful smile.

"It's okay!" Kotori chirped but before she could say more, Honoka jumped her.

"I can help though, Kotori-chan!" Honoka exclaimed and Umi shot her a wary stare. "Really! I promise I won't get hurt!"

"On second thought, maybe Honoka should come with me." Umi started, but Eli finally spoke up. Although she was pouting over the fact that Nozomi wasn't giving her as much attention, she never let her feelings interfere with club activities. Well, that was what Nico noticed, and Nico had some very observant eyes. Well, unless it came to Maki. That was a whole other problem.

"It's fine, Umi. I'll make sure she doesn't die." Eli teased lightly and Honoka huffed in indignation.

"Mou, you're all mean." Honoka said with a pout and Kotori giggled.

"But you know, you have many things you're good at!"

"Really? Like what?"

"Well…"

After that, Nico tuned out their conversation, checking her phone to see if her mother had texted her back. It was only when Eli spoke up that she was broken out of her trance.

"What about Nico and Maki?" Eli asked and everyone turned to the two. Maki blushed and started twirling her hair while Nico tried to keep a straight face.

"Didn't you need someone to check your composition, Maki?" Umi started and Maki looked like she wanted to interrupt, but to Nico's surprise, she didn't. "Why don't you have Nico help you out? From what I remember, the two of you do go over your compositions anyways."

It all seemed so suspicious, with the way that Kotori and Nozomi were shooting her and Maki a knowing glance. However, one glance at Umi's face made it clear that she didn't know of their plans—she had that earnest, serious look on her face like usual.

"Sure." Nico said, surprising Maki. When all the redhead did was blink at her, Nico rolled her eyes and continued, "Don't you all have jobs to do? C'mon, we have a live coming up and these things don't prepare themselves."

Eli chuckled at that, nodding with approval. "Nico's right. Let's get moving everyone."

And so everyone bustled around, clearing the rooftop and heading downstairs to change. After that, everyone was on their way doing the tasks they were assigned to do and Nico found herself alone in the music room with Maki.

Her heart was beating ridiculously fast and she was desperately trying to slow it down. It had been a while since she was in the music room alone with Maki, and it made her nervous. Despite this, she cleared her throat and took initiative, sitting down on the piano chair and giving the redhead a pointed look when she didn't move an inch.

"C'mon. Don't you got a composition to share?" Nico asked, shooting Maki a teasing grin. Maki seemed to relax a bit, rolling her eyes as she started to walk towards the bench. With a sigh, she sat next to Nico and begrudgingly opened her music book, so Nico said, "Hey, what's with that attitude?"

Maki turned to the side and grumbled, so Nico rolled her eyes this time around. She nudged the redhead lightly, causing the younger girl to turn back around. At seeing her glare, Nico asked, "What did I do?"

"Nothing." Maki finally spoke, a frown on her face as she crossed her arms. "You're pretty special now, huh, hanging out a lot with everyone nowadays."

Nico stared at the unusual expression on Maki's face. She had seen it only rarely, and it would be during moments when Nozomi would cling on to her too much. Interesting, Nico thought as she shrugged at Maki's statement, saying, "Well I'm graduating soon. I won't be able to see them as often, especially if they went to different colleges."

At this, something inside Maki seemed to snap. She hadn't been able to talk to Nico in person for almost two weeks because Nico suddenly got busy hanging out with other people. It got to a point where Maki could only talk to her through texts, so she tried to initiate conversations with Nico often. Thinking about how hard last week seemed to be, Maki's glare seemed to intensify, but the tears in her eyes conveyed something that wasn't truly anger.

"Nico-chan is an idiot!" Maki yelled as she got up. Her fist tightened at her sides as she continued, the tears threatening to roll down her face, " What about me? You wouldn't be able to see me as often either! Maybe you won't even see me at all after you graduate."

"Maki…" Nico whispered, astonished at seeing the redhead almost in tears.

"Mou, you're a huge idiot!" Maki continued as she bit her lip, looking obviously upset, so Nico did the only other thing she could think of doing. She stood up and gently pulled Maki into her arms. The redhead sniffled as she leaned into the hug, mumbling, "Nico-chan is a big idiot."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." Nico murmured gently, lightly pulling the girl down so they could sit on the piano. She stroked her hair comfortingly, hugging the redhead to show her that she wouldn't leave. "Say, Maki?"

Maki sniffled, and Nico felt her mumble a what. She pulled away and smiled gently when Maki averted her eyes, blushing at the proximity. Nico continued, "How about the two of us go out and do something? We can go to the arcade or a restaurant or maybe even the amusement park!"

"Just the two of us?" Maki asked, blushing at hearing the implications of her own statement.

"Yeah! Like when we go out after school to get fast food sometimes." Nico assured, grinning as she gave her a nudge, "Just like usual."

Maki blushed even more and turned her head so she could look away, "Just like usual?"

"Yeah." Nico blinked, thinking that that was what she wanted. But then, as she thought of Maki's outburst earlier, she realized that it was a textbook case of jealousy and that Maki seemed to be embarrassed at the thought of hanging out with each other alone. So, Nico wanted to test a theory. She continued with a lightly teasing tone, "It's not like it's a date."

"Oh." Maki simply said, seemingly deflated at Nico's statement. She tried not to look disappointed but with the way that her smile and blush slowly disappeared from her face, Nico knew she was definitely disappointed. "Okay."

At this point, Nico started to channel in all of her courage and strength. Her theory was definitely true, so if she did this now, it would truly be all or nothing.

' _C'mon Nico, you can do this! Just ask her out!'_

With a deep breath, Nico moved closer to Maki, putting a hand atop of hers. Maki blushed slightly at that and definitely had Nico's attention, so, Nico said, "I mean, it can be a date if you want it to?" Maki's eyes widened at that and Nico quickly took her hand off of hers, taking her reaction the wrong way. "I-I mean I'm sorry! That was probably really weird! Don't listen to me and forget—"

"Do you mean it?" Maki quietly asked and Nico froze, making her repeat, "Did you mean it, Nico-chan?"

"Yes." Nico managed to breathe out, astonished at Maki's relieved face, "I really meant it."

Maki seemed to tear up once again, causing Nico to panic. She grabbed her hand and moved closer, ready to hug Maki and barrage her with comforting words, but Maki shook her head, her other hand covering her mouth as she smiled into it.

"I'm so happy." Maki simply said and Nico blushed, not really being used to Maki being honest. "I thought you were going to forget me or that you were angry at me since you suddenly couldn't hang out with me anymore. I, I mean, I even thought that—"

Maki blushed as she refused to say any more, making Nico try to coax it out from her. She moved closer and put an arm around her, gently asking, "What did you think?"

At Nico's soft expression, Maki reluctantly mumbled, "I thought you found someone you liked or that you were dating someone since you were so busy all the time."

Nico smiled at that and leaned in closer, shooting Maki a small grin. "Well, I might start to get busy soon again."

"Why?" Maki asked as she pulled away a bit, blinking confusedly at Nico and pouting a bit. Nico thought it was so cute, so she giggled and booped her nose.

"Because I'm gonna be going out with you, silly!" Nico cheesily replied, grinning when Maki blushed and sputtered. "Now c'mon, the best girlfriend in the world wants to see the cutest girlfriend in the world's composition."

"Mou, Nico-chan! You're being embarrassing." Maki complained, making Nico giggle. She gave Maki a pointed look, making Maki blush harder.

"You know that it's true." Nico teased and Maki averted her eyes, twirling her hair as she pulled away from Nico.

"I, I mean, I guess there's some truth to that statement." Maki relented, turning slightly to Nico, who had a bright look in her eyes, "I am the cutest girl in the world."

Nico blinked and then laughed at her statement, leaning in close enough to touch noses with Maki. "I said cutest girlfriend in the world." Nico corrected and grinned when Maki froze, the blush coming back to her face when she saw how close Nico was.

"I, I mean I guess I can be your girlfriend!" Maki responded as she averted her eyes and turned around, doing her usual tsundere act. It just made Nico grin happily.

"Hehe, Maki-chan is so cute." Nico commented, leaning in to give the redhead a quick peck on the cheek. Maki blushed at that, but Nico gave her no time to recover. "Now c'mon cutie, we have a composition to look at."

Maki kept quiet as Nico opened her book, choosing only to scooch closer. Nico smiled at that and leaned onto the girl, starting to ask her questions about certain parts of the track. And so, the pair began to work together, just like they would before. The only difference was that this time, they were so close that their bodies were touching and their heartbeats were in sync.

Nozomi peered through the window in the music room and smiled to herself. She walked away, quietly whistling a tune as music and chatter emitted from the music room.

The cards were always right, Nozomi thought as she pulled out the Lover's card.


End file.
